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May have neurotrophic effects in addition to known phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibiting effects.

Essentially what they’re saying is, there may be additional positive side effects of taking horny goat weed – that go beyond inhibiting PDE5.

2. Horny Goat Weed is a Nitric Oxide (NO) Booster

As I mentioned earlier, horny goat weed is a nitric oxide booster.

This is probably the effect that gets the most press in ED circles. After all, a Google search returns 901,000 results so there’s plenty of information out there.

But how does is actually work? (Also if you need a refresher why NO is important you can read about it here.)

It works in two ways.

First, horny goat weed elevates NO production. The study on rats mentioned before found that horny goat weed increased nitric oxide synthase, meaning that it makes it easier for your body to make NO.

This happens through multiple pathways, for example improving the L-arginine to NO pathway.

Second, horny goat weed also inhibits NO breakdown.

A study on rabbits found that the animals given horny goat weed had more relaxed soft muscle tissue, compared to the control group.

This is a combination of both the acceleration of NO synthase and thus an improved cGMP signal pathway as well as inhibiting PDE5, your body’s natural signal to bring your erection to an end.

Finally, horny goat weed will up-regulate the gene relating to NO production.

Basically, everything in your body is controlled ultimately by genes. And it turns out the specific genes that manage NO production can be up regulated so they’re told to produce more nitric oxide.

3. Horny Goat Weed is a Testosterone Mimetic

You need testosterone to build the sex drive that gets the erection process started.

As you get older your testosterone levels drop and thus low T can be a significant cause of physiological ED.

The active ingredient icariin will effectively boost your T levels by pretending to be testosterone, and your body can’t tell the difference.

One study looking at this dosed one group of rats with icariin and compared the results with a control group. They found that the icariin group had improved reproductive organs and higher testosterone levels.

Another study on rats found that icariin tripled testosterone levels without increasing either luteinizing hormone (LH) or follicle stimulating hormone (FSH).

This is important because it not only means that testosterone went up by a factor of three, but also that the ratio of testosterone to other hormones improved significantly.

Scientists aren’t really sure why horny goat weed works as a mimetic. One possibility though, is that it drives up testosterone levels by lowering cortisol….

4. Horny Goat Weed Lowers Cortisol

A study looking at animals in a lab setting found that horny goat weed reduced exercise-induced cortisol. This sparked the question: could horny goat weed also reduce stress-induced cortisol?

Turns out, yes.

Scientists then stressed out their rats to cause their cortisol to spike and found that those who had been given horny goat weed did indeed have lower cortisol levels.

Of course, this is hugely beneficial for you and your erections…

Because less cortisol means more testosterone and more sex drive, which is stage one of the erection process.

Second, cortisol is the physical manifestation of mental stress that comes with psychological stress.

With less cortisol, you have less physiological reinforcement for your psychological stress and thus, less potent stress levels.

In short, you’ll be more relaxed about whatever is stressing you out. And since stress is a major psychological cause of ED, less stress means better erections.

5. Horny Goat Weed Elevates Dopamine Production

Dopamine is key to morning wood (not to mention a happy, healthy life) so maintaining positive dopamine levels is essential.

Scientists working on research for Parkinson ’s disease found that icariin had a positive impact on dopaminergic neurons in mice.

Specifically, the research found that the horny goat weed helped activate the PI3K signaling pathway, which is the pathway that eventually leads to endothelial nitric oxide synthase.

Therefore, by increasing dopamine production and lubricating specific neural pathways, horny goat weed makes NO synthase even easier, which makes getting an erection easier as well.

6. Horny Goat Weed Reverses Diabetic Penile Damage

Some ED isn’t psychosocial or generally physiological. With rising rates of diabetes, diabetic penile damage is increasingly common (and difficult to fix).

Horny goat weed might be able to help.

Diabetic penile damage is caused by damage to the penile dorsal nerve bundle.

The penile dorsal nerve bundle is the collection of nerves that run all over your penis and testis, so damage to them is obviously extremely distressing.

Studies completed on diabetic rats suggest that icariside II, an active ingredient in horny goat weed has a positive effect on a range of erection-related problems, but specifically helps increase the density of the penile dorsal nerve bundle.

The more nerves you have, the better off you are (and the more sensation you’ll experience). This effect is likely the result of improved nerve growth factor (NGF).

The end result is that horny goat weed can help repair the various erection related problems caused by diabetes.

7. Horny Goat Weed Improves Sperm Quality

Sperm health basically comes down to two things: quality and quantity.

Horny goat weed improves both.

A study on male rats found that those who had been dosed with icariin had significantly more sperm than those who hadn’t (interestingly, that study also found that too much horny goat weed was actually detrimental to sperm).

It’s not only about quantity – it’s about quality too. And there’s been some research to suggest that horny goat weed can actually improve sperm quality.

Specifically, this study looked at the effect of icariin on oxidative stress (the imbalance between free radicals and your body’s ability to deal with them).

Sperm are natural anti-oxidants, so keeping them healthy benefits you by keeping your free radicals in check.

When the researchers looked at sperm that had been exposed to icariin, and compared it to sperm that hadn’t, they found that the icariin dosed sperm were much more resistant to damage caused by free radicals.

Essentially, the icariin acts as a shield, protecting sperm from oxidization while they themselves help keep free radicals in balance throughout your body.

8. Horny Goat Weed is an Antidepressant

We’ve talked before about the long term damage that commercial SSRI antidepressants can have on your wood. However, sometimes it can feel like SSRIs are the only option out there to help with depression…

But before you reach for the hard stuff and risk damaging your sex life for good, you should give horny goat weed a try.

A study induced mice into a depressed-liked state and then forced the depressed (and lethargic) mice to swim and lift their tails (this sounds a bit silly but is actually a standard measure for this sort of experiment).

They found that the group that had been receiving horny goat weed for 21 days in a row prior to the experiment did better in both the swimming and the tail lifting tests than the controls.

Another study looked at chronic mild stress (CMS) in rats and the impact of taking icariin on reducing CMS. They found that when rats are exposed to chronic mild stress, the amount of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) increased.

By taking icariin, the rats with CMS totally reversed the increase in CRF. This means that the icariin in horny goat weed does work as an antidepressant in addition to improving your erections in all the other ways we’ve talked about.

9. Horny Goat Weed Increases Sexual Activity

Finally, in addition to all the other benefits, many of which will have aphrodisiacal spinoff effects (e.g. increased T, dopamine, and sensation, and reduced cortisol), horny goat weed works as a straight up aphrodisiac.

A study on rats published in the Journal of Enthopharmacology found that by administering horny goat weed, scientists could make male rats hornier:

• It increased how many times they mounted the lady rats
• It increased the total number of times they ejaculated
• It decreased the latency period (downtime) between ejaculations

This study, of course, is hardly the only one.

Another study found the exact same result comparing sexually healthy rats and sexually unhealthy ones and found that horny goat weed improved sexual performance for both healthy and unhealthy rats.

Horny Goat Weed For Erections – Conclusion:

Horny goat weed is talked about in ED circles a lot – and for good reason. It can be enormously beneficial to your sex life, not to mention keeping your mind and body in tip top shape.

Usually the focus is on the fact that horny goat weed is a natural PDE5 inhibitor like Viagra.

However, there are many other benefits and positive side effects as well like lower cortisol levels, more testosterone and NO, and better quality sperm.

Plus, since it’s an aphrodisiac, you’ll just be hornier in general. So if you’re a guy who’s getting older and you’re worried about your erections…

Or if you just want to make sure you’re as sexually fit as you can be, horny goat weed is definitely an herb you should try.